Beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics
In this article, I critically evaluate a characteristic tendency that is found across the various traditions of poststructuralism, both narrowly and more broadly defined. This is an increasing propensity to be preoccupied with ontological questions and seemingly at the expense of either a refinement...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
SAGE Publications
2017
|
| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42196/ |
| _version_ | 1848796442409304064 |
|---|---|
| author | Khan, Gulshan Ara |
| author_facet | Khan, Gulshan Ara |
| author_sort | Khan, Gulshan Ara |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | In this article, I critically evaluate a characteristic tendency that is found across the various traditions of poststructuralism, both narrowly and more broadly defined. This is an increasing propensity to be preoccupied with ontological questions and seemingly at the expense of either a refinement of political concepts or a concrete analysis of forms of power and domination. I consider the reasons for this development and stress how this characteristic feature of poststructuralism appears to follow from the very fact of ontological pluralism. What we see in contemporary continental thought is a proliferation of different traditions, and each side seeks to defend their position in ontological terms. Following this, I advance the idea of a relative autonomy between ontology and politics, where the former does not determine the latter in any direct or straightforward fashion. I argue that we need to stress this relative autonomy to open a little space between ontology and politics, space where we can return poststructuralism to a more concrete engagement with ‘the political’. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:48:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-42196 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:48:03Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | SAGE Publications |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-421962020-05-04T19:15:43Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42196/ Beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics Khan, Gulshan Ara In this article, I critically evaluate a characteristic tendency that is found across the various traditions of poststructuralism, both narrowly and more broadly defined. This is an increasing propensity to be preoccupied with ontological questions and seemingly at the expense of either a refinement of political concepts or a concrete analysis of forms of power and domination. I consider the reasons for this development and stress how this characteristic feature of poststructuralism appears to follow from the very fact of ontological pluralism. What we see in contemporary continental thought is a proliferation of different traditions, and each side seeks to defend their position in ontological terms. Following this, I advance the idea of a relative autonomy between ontology and politics, where the former does not determine the latter in any direct or straightforward fashion. I argue that we need to stress this relative autonomy to open a little space between ontology and politics, space where we can return poststructuralism to a more concrete engagement with ‘the political’. SAGE Publications 2017-11-01 Article PeerReviewed Khan, Gulshan Ara (2017) Beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics. Political Studies Review, 15 (4). pp. 551-563. ISSN 1478-9302 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1478929917712933 doi:10.1177/1478929917712933 doi:10.1177/1478929917712933 |
| spellingShingle | Khan, Gulshan Ara Beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics |
| title | Beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics |
| title_full | Beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics |
| title_fullStr | Beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics |
| title_short | Beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics |
| title_sort | beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42196/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42196/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42196/ |